Why Aleppo Matters

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By COHI

12/20/16

We all have felt, and are feeling these emotions as we listen to and absorb the news coming from Syria since March of 2011. We should be honest with ourselves how hard it has been to witness the Syrian crisis, carrying the weight of the events affecting the Syrian diaspora and those remaining inside Syria. It’s hard because individually, we feel we cannot affect any amount of positive change.

We ask ourselves, “What can I do? How can my actions make any difference?”

Bearing witness to the difficulties fellow women, men and children face, it’s hard to not be spurned into action. There are several emotions enmeshed in our need to respond and alleviate these difficulties; a sense of duty, guilt, a desire for justice, an innate sense of right and wrong.

But then it’s easy to fall into apathy, after all is this not the responsibility of the powers that be? Until something reminds us why we care, and why we should always care about our fellow humans.

Reading and watching the final goodbyes from Syrians in eastern Aleppo, these personal accounts rocked us anew. The Syrian toddler on the shores of Turkey, Oman in the ambulance, and these brave faces of eastern Aleppo stand as reminders of our own humanity, and the reason to act. To be brave, and to face humanity’s challenges head on.

To all who have donated to COHI in support of the last hospital in Aleppo, you have done this. You have made the decision to not sit idly by, to not look the other way, to face this challenge head on. This is the impact you have made.

In just one week, you have raised almost $80,000- enough to fund our partner Human Appeal’s hospital for another 2 months, ensuring healthcare for thousands of mothers, fathers, children and infants in Aleppo.

When we count our own personal impact, it appears as a drop in the bucket. But aggregated? We have the power to change the world around us, for those who cannot and who desperately need our help. Those same emotions that have guided our actions- a sense of duty, guilt and justice- are there to remind us of our humanity and the need to protect it dearly.